In recent years, hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) that have zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) as well as a relatively low global warming potential (GWP) have been used as refrigerants for refrigerators. A difluoromethane refrigerant (HFC-32) has a low GWP that is about ⅓rd to ¼th of that of other refrigerants currently used (e.g., R-410A which is a mixture of difluoromethane and pentafluoroethane and R-407C which is a mixture of difluoromethane, pentafluoroethane and 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane). Moreover, the difluoromethane refrigerant also has a coefficient of performance (COP) higher than that of R-410A, R-407C and the like by about 5 to 13% and therefore is a preferable refrigerant from the viewpoint of energy-saving (see Non-Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1 discloses an ester of neopentyl glycol and 3,5,5-trimethylhexanoic acid that is used in a refrigerant oil for the difluoromethane refrigerant. However, the ester disclosed in Patent Document 1 is not satisfactory in that it does not exhibit sufficient miscibility with the difluoromethane refrigerant, for example.